Cars line up to enter the United States from Canada at the Peace Arch border crossing Friday.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

Cars line up to enter the United States from Canada at the Peace Arch border crossing Friday.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

Irvin and Verna Zentner frequently visit friends in the U.S. from their home in Ladner, and said although they don’t usually buy much, they have been waived through during busy times.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

Mark Mascarenhas was at the Peace Arch border crossing Friday, heading south for the day to shop at the outlet stores. The 27-year-old said knowing the officers were waiving duty fees during the busy long weekend meant he and his girlfriend could stock up on bargains.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

Betty Harding said she was not surprised that border officials had been told not to charge duty during peak border crossing times.NICK PROCAYLO
/ PNG

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Canadian border officers have been told to wave travellers through without charging them duty in order to avoid long lineups during peak cross-border shopping periods such as long weekends.

At the same time, the federal government is forking out millions in additional overtime pay to border guards who patrol during long weekends, according to figures obtained by Postmedia News.

Last August, border services officers raked in just under $2 million in additional salary the week of the midsummer holiday — more than double the monthly average.

This means Canada is forsaking big bucks in potential revenue from same-day shoppers who’ve exceeded their allowances, while spending millions to boost staffing to hurry those same people through.

At the Peace Arch border crossing on Friday, several consumers who regularly shop in the U.S. said they’ve noticed border officials waiving the duty, especially when lineups are long.

Betty and Donald Harding, a married couple from Surrey, were heading down to the States to visit friends. They are Nexus card holders and usually stay 48 hours because they have a place to stay.

They were not surprised that border officials had been told not to charge duty during peak border crossing times.

“They’ve been waiving the duty for quite awhile,” said Betty Harding, “We always declare our items and often they will just send us through. We bring back some clothes, but mostly just groceries.”

She said even if the duty is charged, the prices are still so much cheaper in the U.S. and they’ll continue to shop south of the border.

Mark Mascarenhas was heading down for the day with his girlfriend to hit up the outlet stores. The 27-year-old from Coquitlam, who shops in the U.S. around once a month, said knowing the officers were waiving duty fees during the busy long weekend traffic meant they could stock up on bargains.

“We might pick up a little more than usual,” he said. “We usually keep it under $50 to avoid the duty, but this is a nice incentive, maybe it’s not good for retailers here, but we’re consumers.”

Irvin and Verna Zentner also frequently visit friends in the U.S. from their home in Ladner, and said although they don’t usually buy much, they have been waived through during busy times.

The Canada Border Services Agency has recently cut 250 jobs and, for the last 13 years, officers have been told to wave travellers through without charging them duty during peak periods.

Meanwhile, overtime pay is costing the federal government millions each year.

Obtained by Postmedia News through access to information, the figures are broken down weekly but each spike in overtime costs coincides with a holiday.

Easter Monday proved to be the costliest holiday, with border guards earning more than $2.6 million in overtime that week.

Canada’s border patrol also saw massive spikes in overtime pay — nearly $23 million in total — during the weeks that included Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day — which is a holiday for federal government workers — Christmas and New Year’s.

“It’s counterproductive,” said Jason McMichael, first national vice-president of the Customs and Immigration Union, noting tax and duty collection tend to take a back seat to drug and weapons enforcement when resources are tight.

“The costs associated with the overtime are astronomical. They indicate in my mind a staffing crisis.”

McMichael said border guards earn a base salary of between $57,000 and $66,000, but he’d be surprised to learn of many earning less than $80,000 given all the overtime they’re asked to work. He said it’s not uncommon to work six- to 10-day stretches and noted burnout is a problem.

While the government insists it didn’t cut front-line staff when it slashed about 250 jobs in budget 2012, McMichael said that’s misleading. About 70 border officers, he said, accepted an offer of early retirement, and their positions were never filled. Hefty overtime costs, he argued, indicate the government should ultimately be hiring more front-line officers.

“When you’re spending this much money on overtime, when a significant portion of that could be used to just bring staffing levels up to a healthy level, it’s better for everyone,” he said. “There’s no question the staff would be more productive because they’re not being forced to work long hours.”

According to an overtime request sheet for this holiday Monday obtained by Postmedia News, one Ontario border crossing is anticipating it will need 17 border guards to work overtime. The rest of the week — Tuesday through Sunday — the crossing has scheduled 91 additional overtime shifts, the majority of which last eight hours.

And this is just one of 119 land border crossings in Canada.

McMichael said there’s so much overtime to go around, officers often don’t even want it and some crossings are having trouble filling shifts.

The federal government did not respond to questions about the state of CBSA’s overtime budget. Julie Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, however, denied front-line border officers have been cut and, in a clear war of words, urged the union to quit “fearmongering and providing misleading information.”

During the fiscal year 2012-13, the Canada Border Services Agency spent nearly $52 million on overtime for border services officers. For all CBSA employees, it cost the government an additional $73.8 million for time off in lieu.

About 6,203 CBSA employees claimed overtime last year and the government dished out another $420,094 in meal allowances.

Quebec had the highest annual overtime costs, paying out more than $14 million to border guards.

Southern Ontario had the second highest overtime costs at $11.7 million, followed by the Pacific region at $11.5 million, the Prairie region at $7.5 million, Atlantic region at nearly $5.8 million, the Greater Toronto Area at nearly $5.3 million and Northern Ontario at $3.8 million.

Also compensated for mileage to and from work when asked to do an overtime shift, some regions included the cost of reimbursing border guards. Mileage payouts cost Quebec another $34,000 last year. It cost the Greater Toronto Area region another $26,089 and southern Ontario coughed up another $218,542 for mileage and meals.

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